API Lifecycle¶

As an API version progresses through its lifecycle, consumers test it, use it, and eventually migrate away from it.

The lifecycle stages, or states are:

State	Description
ACTIVE	This version of the API is available in production and is fully supported.
DEPRECATED	This version of the API is available for a fixed period of time. It is fully supported for existing consumers. It is not available to new consumers. Deprecation and Sunset HTTP headers are set to inform consumers that it is deprecated and when the API will be deactivated.
DEACTIVATED	This version of the API is unpublished from production and no longer available to any consumer. The footprint of all deployed applications entering this state must be completely removed from production, sandbox, and lower environments.

This section describes the recommended lifecycle and versioning strategies for VA APIs:

API Evolution: A strategy for enhancing an API without introducing breaking changes for the consumer.
Versioning: Conventions for creating a new version of an API to deliver major or breaking changes.
Deprecation: Marking a complete API, an API version, an endpoint, or an element of the API for future removal.
Deactivation: Retiring an API version and making it unavailable for use.

There are special cases that may occur during the life of an API. One of those cases is breaking up a large API into smaller groupings.